Samwise Gamgee Starter Pack: No Premium Upgrade?

I recently purchased the Samwise Gamgee Starter Pack for 2 of my alternate F2P accounts. One reason for the purchase was to enable all the characters access to riding skill and mount, but another reason was to upgrade them to Premium status. The description of the Starter Pack explicitly states that it would provide Premium account status if this was also the first purchase for the account. But when I logged in after the purchase I found the items I was expecting (riding skill and mount in a box, 4th inventory bag) but the character screen still says Free to Play and has a limit of 2 characters. I had just made a recommendation to a friend to upgrade her account with this Starter Pack and she also did not receive Premium status.

Has there been a change in policy regarding how to achieve Premium? In the past the rule was if you purchased anything with real money, it would upgrade you to Premium...

Diamond of Gladden & Landroval.
Director of Eriador Music Society of Landroval.

Samwise Gamgee Premium (My Experience).

What you're describing happened to me, and I was confused (read: "angry") at first. But what happened to me was the next time I bought something through the in-game LOTRO store, it said, "Premium" in a certain area. This seems like an in-game LOTRO situation. I am not VIP, still "free-to-play" (I'm seeing if I want to play the game). But the store says I am "Free-to-Play" and "Premium" now. I hope that helps. And the person that hates me, just ignore my posts. Much obliged.

P. S., I remember what made me mad, it was the "three characters." After I used "real money" (technically, the "second purchase"), it shows three character slots available.

(And the person that hates me, please continue ignoring me. You and me are just incompatible. No offense.)

Little Hope there is that help should come from Gondor, but we shall see the glory of Cardolan restored!

What you're describing happened to me, and I was confused (read: "angry") at first. But what happened to me was the next time I bought something through the in-game LOTRO store, it said, "Premium" in a certain area. This seems like an in-game LOTRO situation. I am not VIP, still "free-to-play" (I'm seeing if I want to play the game). But the store says I am "Free-to-Play" and "Premium" now. I hope that helps. And the person that hates me, just ignore my posts. Much obliged.

P. S., I remember what made me mad, it was the "three characters." After I used "real money" (technically, the "second purchase"), it shows three character slots available.

The description for what I purchased, with real money, not TP, stated that it would grant Premium status. As you say (thanks for that tip) the in-game Store lists my account as Premium, but I still do not have 3 character slots. Three character slots is part of the definition of "Premium", and because this happened to two of my accounts, and my friend's account, I am thinking this is not an isolated problem.

Diamond of Gladden & Landroval.
Director of Eriador Music Society of Landroval.

Acknowledged.

I see what you're saying. I can only really speak for my experience. I didn't immediately have the three character slots, as the offer mentioned. (Honestly, I wanted the horse and the bag!) But I had read up to see "What's does 'Premium' mean?" Among other things, it meant, "Three Character Slots." So I wondered, "How come I still have just two?" But now I have three. The only thing I can speculate is that when I bought Turbine Points during that early December 2013 sale (with the bonus matter) using a credit card, the "Premium" status "kicked in."

I now have three character slots, but not sure what to do with them. I really like my character! I'd like to play as a Hobbit and an Elf, but Calimendil has a lot of really good stuff.

In a way, it is misleading. Perhaps there is a failure to communicate between the advertising department (my sign-on screen still shows the "Triple Bonus Turbine Points" offer, and it's 01/03/2014) and the game department?

Little Hope there is that help should come from Gondor, but we shall see the glory of Cardolan restored!

If it's been over 24 hours then contact Account Management to get it straightened out. Calling would be best as it will get corrected right away. Ticket times are abnormally high right now due to the recent expansion (compounded by holidays and storm closures). Figure about 2+ weeks for a ticket response. Your friend would have to do the same if their account was not upgraded properly.

"Everyone's got one. Better to be a smart one than a dumb one." - me
"It's people like you that [I]think[/I] you know everything that give those of us that [I]do[/I] a bad name." - me
"Eat, drink, and be Merry, 'cause Pippin was a fool of a Took."

Thanks for the responses! For anyone else who purchases something and does not get everything or isn't completely upgraded to Premium, it is some kind of bug, so make sure you send in a ticket as soon as you notice the missing item/perk. I was able to get my character screen updated to reflect my Premium status, including the additional character slot through the ticket process.

Diamond of Gladden & Landroval.
Director of Eriador Music Society of Landroval.